Quest
by Purple Raindrop
Summary: When Katherine's mother dies she decides to go and find the father she has never met.
1. Setting Sail

Chapter 1

Katherine sat crying on her window seat, looking out across Portsmouth Harbour.  She was unable to stand another minute downstairs with people offering their condolences, she just wanted to be left alone, but really, alone is what she was, now that her mother was dead.  Her father had left before he had even found out her mother was pregnant, her mother had been young and foolish and had fallen for the hansom merchant sailor that had sailed into port, and left just as quickly.  It was the reason than she had only met her grandparents once, they had disowned their only child when they found out she was pregnant.  In the last few days the tiny house that she and her mother had lived in had seen more visitors than it had in the entire time that she had lived there.  Most of the visitors were neighbours, other people who had made mistakes and were considered outcast.  The only exception was her mother's boss and his wife who had attended the funeral and stayed for the first five minutes of the reception before leaving.  Katherine could hear the chatter from below, the house still filled with almost every family living in their road.  Katherine turned back to her thoughts, thoughts of what her mother said to her on her death bed.  She had finally answered the question Katherine had always asked her, who her father was.

"His name was Jack," her mother had told her, "and he came from a place known as Port Royal."

Katherine's problem now was what to do with the information, she wanted to try and find him, but that meant leaving for America, giving up her job, her friends and her home.  She looked up to see her mother's best friend, and in many ways her second mother, enter the small bedroom.  Charlotte was the only person Katherine had discussed going to look for her father with.

"I came to give you this," said Charlotte, handing a small cloth bag of money to Katherine.

"What's this for?" asked Katherine, not taking the bag.

"This is to help you find your father, it should cover your fare to America and…"

"I can't take it," Katherine interrupted.

"Of course you can, you need to pack, and tomorrow we'll go and buy your ticket, and you'll be off."

"But, I haven't even decided I'm going yet," Katherine tried to argue back.

"Yes you have, in your heart you have; you need to go for yourself.  Now, you need to pack and get some sleep. I'll sort out downstairs and come and see you in the morning, be up early, the ship leaves at dawn." 

At this Charlotte left, closing the door behind her.  Katherine turned back round to look out of the window; she was going to America to find her father.  Adrenaline surged through her as she got up and started packing what few possessions she owned into her drawstring bag, before climbing into her bed and falling asleep on dry land for what she knew would be the last time for a long while.

After what felt like no time at all Katherine was shaken awake by Charlotte who told her to get dressed quickly and meet her downstairs.  After pulling on an old pinafore and splashing some cold water on her face Katherine went downstairs to find Charlotte carrying a second bag, larger than her own.

"Food for the journey," said Charlotte, noticing Katherine's confused look.

Nodding Katherine accepted the hunk of bread offered to her, before walking out of the front door and into the dark street, where she was met by the frigid February air.  Now that she was actually leaving, Katherine was starting to feel sick with nerves.

The pair headed down towards the harbour, where they bought a single one way ticket to America from the boat's captain, who then told Katherine to go and join the other passengers on deck.  Turning back to Charlotte, she saw that she was trying hard not to cry.

"I'm going to miss you, you know," Charlotte said, and before Katherine could reply Charlotte had swept her into her arms and given her a huge bear hug.

"Now get on that ship, and don't forget to write."

"Bye, and thank you," replied Katherine, unsure of what else to say.  Then she turned round and carried both bags onto the ship, joining the other passengers at the stern, and just as the sun broke over the horizon she heard shouts telling the sailors to cast off.  She waved back at Charlotte who was standing amongst the crowd who had come to see their loved ones off, and as she did so, she wondered for the millionth time whether she was doing the right thing.  After seventeen and a half years would Jack remember her mother, and would he even care?


	2. Voyage and Attack

Chapter 2

Katherine awoke to feel the ship rise and then sink what must have been ten feet, leaving her stomach behind.  Other people had been woken by the storm, the roaring of the wind, waves and rain battering against the ship was deafening, and the ship that had felt sturdy only hours before now made her feel like she was sitting in a child's toy.  Katherine could not help but be terrified that they would never see the other side of the storm, whilst living in Portsmouth she had heard weekly accounts of ships sinking and sailors perishing.  The noise of the storm grew momentarily louder as one of the sailors dived down below deck.

"We suggest, ladies and gentlemen, that you all stay down here for a while, just until the storms calmed down."

Katherine agreed with the sailor, but didn't think a single one of the passengers had the slightest inclination to go up on deck in this weather. At least they were only two days away from Port Royal.  Land had been spotted late yesterday afternoon and the sailors knew the area and could tell them when they hoped to sail into port, assuming they got a good wind in the right direction. The journey had been long and they had been more than lucky not to have at least one illness travel round the passengers and crew.  Katherine was almost out of food supplies and would be glad to reach dry land.  A collective gasp was heard from the passengers as they rose over another giant wave, tossing positions and people across the small area in which they had been living.

Throughout the morning the storm raged on, and it seemed like it would never end, until at lunchtime they noticed that the storm seemed to be dying down and by mid-afternoon the world around them seemed eerily quiet, apart form the occasional howl of the only baby that was on board.  Finally, the sailor that had spoken to the earlier returned to tell them that it was safe to return to deck.  Most people used the opportunity to stretch their legs, having been hauled up below deck all day.

Katherine headed to the bow of the ship with Mary, the only other girl her age that was on the boat.  She was heading to America with her mother and younger brother to rejoin her father, a naval sailor.  Once they got into Port Royal, Mary and her family would be heading off further up the coast to a town called Salem.  Standing on deck, the pair watched the land draw slowly closer in the dimming light.

"It's like a whole new world, isn't it," Katherine said, turning to Mary and breaking the silence between them.

"Well, that's the point, isn't it?  A whole new start."

"Yeah, I guess," replied Katherine, retreating back into her own thoughts

"You'll find him, don't you worry," Mary replied, reading Katherine surprisingly well.

"What will I say to him if I do?  Hi, I'm the daughter that you didn't know existed?"

"You can't give up now, you've come all this way."

The mist started to fall, obscuring the land from their vision.

"Let's go back down below, we could do with some sleep before we reach land."

Katherine followed Mary back towards the door that would leave them back down below.  Turning to have one final look round, Katherine thought she glimpsed something large making its way out of the dense mist that surrounded them.  She strained her eyes, but was still unable to identify the shape.  She called to one of the sailors,

"Can you see anything in the mist?"

"Where," said the sailor, looking up from the rope he was tying.

Katherine pointed in the direction she had seen the dark shadow.  The sailor strained to see in the mist, and let out a gasp as they saw the bows of another ship emerge.

"Pirates," the sailor yelled, his voice resonating down the ship.

Katherine heard a sudden flurry of activity as sailors started producing pistols and those passengers who had been below deck came rushing to the surface.

Jeers could be heard from the other ship as it emerged from the mist with black sails and the small flag a top the mast identifying them as pirates.  The passengers huddled in silence, unsure of what to do, while the sailors stood, all with pistols pointed at the vessel that was pulling alongside the ship, a sign of the pirate's arrogance that they hadn't even fired their cannons.

"FIRE!!!" came the call from the captain, and the sailors fired a small hail of bullets into the boarding pirates, though few actually hit their targets.

The passengers were still stood around in silence, scared and shocked.  Suddenly the cry of "RUN, HIDE" went up around Katherine, bringing her back to her consciousness.  Panicking with the rest of the passengers, she started to run towards the other end of the ship, whilst trying to think of somewhere to go, but the ship was tiny, and there weren't really any suitable hiding places, especially for all the passengers.  Knowing this, Katherine continued to fight her way forward, to be as far away as possible, but on the ship no one could get nearly as far away as they wanted to.

"'Gotcha," cried a deep voice in her ear, and she felt her feet leave the floor as she was picked up by the waist, before feeling herself being chucked onto the deck of the neighbouring ship.


End file.
